Most high school and college freshman teachers of writing are completely ignorant of the tradition of corruption that has surrounded Rhetoric for centuries. A new e-book, The Secret DNA of Writing Essays – And Everything Else, claims to provide a better alternative.

Provo, UT – January 18, 2010 (PressReleasePivot) – Bill Drew, CEO of NewView Options and the author of a successful new e-book, ‘The Secret DNA of Writing Essays – And Everything Else,’ claims “Rhetoric has been surrounded by a tradition of corruption for centuries.”

That’s a pretty shocking statement, Mr. Drew. Do you have any evidence to support that, from recognized scholars? “Sure, there’s lots of evidence for it,” said Drew. “Is John Locke, the renowned English philosopher of the late sixteen hundreds, good enough for you? Here’s what he said in his famous treatise,An Essay Concerning Human Understanding: “…we must allow that all the arts of rhetoric… are for nothing else but to insinuate wrong ideas, move the passions, and thereby mislead the judgement; and so indeed are perfect cheats… wholly to be avoided… rhetoric, that powerful instrument of error and deceit…” ( http://bit.ly/JohnLockeRhetoric )

Surely that’s just one man’s opinion, and an isolated one, at that! “Hate to disagree with you,” Drew responded, “but Francis Bacon said the same sorts of things, as have many more modern scholars, such as Adam Smith, Wilhelm von Christ, and the very modern and distinguished scholar on Rhetoric from the University of Chicago, Wayne Booth. Although Booth argued for Rhetoric most of the time, his favorite term for the bad side of Rhetoric was rhetrickery, which he talks about quite a bit in his 2004 book, The Rhetoric of RHETORIC.”

But ancient scholars didn’t feel that way, did they? “Actually, many of them did, including Cicero and Quintilian, who taught rhetoric for a living to Romans of noble families. To be a professional user of Rhetoric, to be a rhetor, was to be seen as dishonest and conniving. Dio Chrysostum of the first century A.D. indicated: ‘I do not make money, I am not interested in crooked deals… I do not promote things in the market place – for I am not a rhetor!’ In the second century A.D., Lucian was even stronger in his condemnation of rhetors: ‘The rhetor is a pushing, driving, money-chasing operator, who leaves any sense of decency, propriety, moderation, and shame at home when he goes to work.’ And Lucian was a trained rhetor! In the free Chapter 7 of my book ( http://bit.ly/SecretDNAFreeChapter ), The Secret DNA of Writing Essays – And Everything Else, there’s even worse – I provide six pages of similar quotes, all properly footnoted, of course, in the NOTES section at the end of Secret DNA.”

Those are eye-openers, Mr. Drew! Aristotle would surely be surprised to hear that his Rhetoric was so abused! “Well, actually, for most of the last 2,000 years, it wasn’t Aristotle’s Rhetoric that was taught in schools – it was the Rhetoric of Isocrates. In his translation and commentary, On Rhetoric, Second Edition (2006), George A. Kennedy points out that for many centuries Aristotle’s Rhetoric was, and I quote, ‘obsolete as a school text.’ Why? Because it was lost for over 200 years shortly after Aristotle’s death. During that time, other major developments – tropes, figures of speech, stasis – had taken root and had become fundamental concepts in the teaching of Rhetoric in schools, none of which came from Aristotle.”

Phew! You’ve certainly made your points about Rhetoric, Mr. Drew! So what does your new book offer as an alternative to rhetoric? “Rhetoric is all about forms. My book, Secret DNA, offers NewView, a breakthrough concept for generating newness of content. I developed it in my Master’s thesis and have used it to win awards as a technical writer for twenty-five years. It works well with Rhetoric by ensuring new content for readers/audiences that Rhetoric neglects, it’s easy to understand, and it’s already being used by students, teachers, and businessmen.

“NewView works well with everything that already works in the teaching and practice of writing by providing that needed extra dimension of ‘What’s new to the reader’ and the innovative and effective 5 NewView Options. NewView puts gas, so to speak, in the highly organized, energy-less, empty car that passes for Rhetoric.” Drew’s company, NewView Options, provides several testimonials on their website, at http://bit.ly/SecretDNAPraises. Positive reviews of his book and his NewView methodology – essentially, testimonials and endorsements – are also available on Amazon.com with his book.

Drew’s e-book, ‘The Secret DNA of Writing Essays – And Everything Else,’ is available now online at http://bit.ly/BuySecretDNABook for $8.50. It is also available on Amazon.com as a Kindle e-book for $9.50. The companion software, NewView Essay Services, which automates the thesis-making process in the e-book, is available at http://bit.ly/SecretDNASoftware on a subscription basis for 3-, 6-, and 12-month terms ($10.50, $15.50, $20.50).

About NewView Options:
Founded in 2008, NewView Options is a Provo, UT, firm specializing in the teaching and training of writing, for both beginners and the more advanced. The company is focused on promoting its propriety NewView approach to writing, communications, and teaching. NewView Options provides Education Discount rates for school districts. Call 1-801-373-0447, visit http://secretdnaofwritingessays.com/, or e-mail billdrew@richcontent.com.